Port of Chennai

Port of Chennai

The Chennai Port Authority, India’s second-largest state-owned container gateway, is poised to reach a record throughput volume in fiscal year 2014-15, which ends March 31, the latest port statistics collected by JOC.com reveal.

Publicly owned major ports in India reported healthy levels of container throughput growth during April 2014 to February 2015, the first 11 months of fiscal year 2014-15, compared to the volumes in the previous year, according to the latest provisional figures compiled by JOC.com.

Only 60-70 percent of India’s port capacity was currently being utilized, and that issue should be addressed before the country embarked on ambitious new port projects, according to Visakhapatnam port chairman M.T. Krishna Babu.

The number of containers handled at major ports in India climbed 8.32 percent year-over-year from April through November, the first eight fiscal months, continuing an accelerating growth trend that leaves state-owned port authorities on track to meet annual throughput targets.

Container throughput at major state-owned ports in India expanded 5.3 percent year-over-year during April to July, the first four months of fiscal year 2014-15, according to preliminary figures released by the Indian Ports Association.

The volume of containers shipped via major ports in India climbed nearly 4 percent year-over-year from April to June, the first quarter of fiscal year 2014-15, showing signs of a slight turnaround in global trade.